Serious Injuries

Getting into any type of accident is difficult to deal with, but when the accident results in significant injuries, the mental, emotional, physical and financial consequences can be severe. If you or someone you know has been hurt and suffered long-term injuries, you may be entitled to compensation. At Miller Legal Services, an experienced Marietta serious injury attorney will help assess the merits of your claim.

What is a Serious Injury?

Catastrophic injuries can result from a number of factors, including automobile accidents, defective products, medical malpractice, dangerous property conditions, and work-related accidents.

According to the American Medical Association, a catastrophic injury is defined as a “severe injury to the spine, spinal cord, or brain, sometimes including fractures to the skull or spine.” Thus, virtually any injury that causes a long-term or permanent impairment that adversely impacts day-to-day life or earning capacity can be deemed catastrophic. These injuries typically require long-term treatment and can have a lasting effect on the victim’s personal and professional life.

Since each accident is different, each produces a different type of injury. However, the following types of injuries may be considered catastrophic:

Lost limbs

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Paralysis/ paraplegia/ quadriplegia

Serious Spinal cord injury

Total or partial blindness

Serious burns

The Centers for Disease Control reports that TBI is one of the most common catastrophic injuries across the United States, affecting roughly 1.4 million victims each year.

How to Establish Fault for Catastrophic Accidents

Establishing liability in serious injury cases is generally the same as in other personal injury actions. The victim usually files a negligence claim and seeks to prove that he or she was owed a duty by the defendant, the defendant breached that duty, and the breach caused the accident and resulted in damages to the victim.

A duty of care is a legal obligation to use reasonable care while doing anything that could harm others. For example, someone who owns a gun has a responsibility to others to use that gun in a way that will not harm others. If the gun owner practices by shooting at a target on his front lawn, and someone accidentally becomes injured, the gun owner’s actions could be deemed negligent. This is because the bullet hitting another person is a foreseeable event in such a scenario, and the gun owner failed to exercise reasonable care in a way that reasonably prudent people would have in a similar situation.

Recovering Damages for your Injuries

You may be entitled to compensation for your catastrophic injuries if your negligence claim succeeds. You can potentially recover economic and non-economic damages, including compensation for your medical expenses (both current and future), lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering, as well as any property damage associated with the accident. In limited cases, you also may be entitled to get punitive damages.

Proving damages in these cases can be costly. This is because the victim typically needs to consult with a financial expert to calculate projected earnings, which are often relevant to the question of damages. At Miller Legal Services, we understand that this can quickly become an overwhelming process, which is why we are committed to providing our clients with the resources and tools they need to get what they deserve.

Dedicated Marietta Attorney Guiding Victims of Catastrophic Injury

If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury in Georgia, you need to speak to a seasoned personal injury lawyer who can help you figure out your next steps. At Miller Legal Services, catastrophic injury lawyer Norman Miller has over three decades of experience in evaluating catastrophic injury cases arising in Roswell, Smyrna, and other areas throughout the state. While we aim to settle the majority of our cases and have obtained approximately 2,000 favorable settlements, our experience in litigating over 100 jury trials makes us comfortable with advocating zealously for your rights in the courtroom. Call us at 770-284-3727 or contact us online for a free, no obligation consultation today.

We serve the following localities: Chatham County including Savannah; Clarke County including Athens; Cobb County including Marietta; DeKalb County including Decatur and Stone Mountain; Fulton County including Atlanta, College Park, and Roswell; Gwinnett County including Buford, Lawrenceville, and Norcross; and Oconee County including Watkinsville.